CHAPTER 22

Ogadi looked into his lovely gray eyes and asked angrily, “What are you doing here?”

Phillip pulled out his phone and showed her the text he'd received from her.

“Phillip, where are you? I need your help.” He read out loud in a sing-song voice.

Ogadi rolled her eyes, “I don't sound like that.”

“I don't know, the text sounded pretty needy.” Phillip taunted.

Ogadi admitted that she should have worded the text differently, “Whatever. Just come in before my neighbors see you.”

Her words stopped Phillip in his tracks. Again, a mischievous grin split his face, lending it a boyish quality.

“Why don't you want your neighbors to see me?” He asked slyly.

“Because they think you come over to have sex with me.” Ogadi replied, pulling him in by his arm. Who knew he had such prominent biceps? She wondered.

“And that distresses you?” He asked curiously.

“I don't care either way but they're really opinionated and confrontational and I'd rather not deal with them.” Ogadi replied as she closed the door and faced him.

“So what do you need me for? Last I remembered, you threatened to report me to the police if I didn't stop following you.” Phillip asked as he sat down on the couch and stretched. When he stretched, his hoodie rode up a bit, giving Ogadi a brief view of his ripped abdomen.

She averted her eyes from the sight and replied, “It was my grandmother's idea to call you.”

“Smart woman.” Phillip praised.

Ogadi rolled her eyes and continued, “She wants you to help me find a certain relic called the amulet of Ikala. Ring a bell?”

“Sadly, no.” Phillip said, deep in thought.

“Ah-hah!” Ogadi exclaimed with glee. “I knew you wouldn't be of any help.”

“What a wrong assumption,” Phillip smirked, “That I don't know of this amulet doesn't mean I can't find it.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Ogadi asked, hands akimbo.

Phillip shook his phone, “With this.”

He began to type ferociously into his phone, squinting at the screen several times.

Ogadi let him do his thing. She decided to get herself a bottle of Fanta to tide herself over when something occurred to her, “How did you arrive here so quickly?”

“What do you mean?” Phillip asked absently.

“I sent you the message and not up to five minutes later, you appeared on my doorstep.” Ogadi said.

“You exaggerate,” Phillip chuckled, “It was seven minutes.”

“You know what I mean,” Ogadi snapped impatiently, wondering why he made her lose her cool so easily.

“Well,” he looked up sheepishly, “I was in the neighborhood.”

Ogadi groaned angrily, “You were stalking me, weren't you? After I told you to leave me alone?”

Phillip immediately looked back to his device, “If you'll excuse me, I have an amulet to find.”

Ogadi clenched her fists and took deep breaths. She wasn't prone to violence except in self-defense but Phillip sorely tried her.

She left him and went to the kitchen to get the bottle of Fanta she wanted. There, she met Nwata staring out the window.

Because of their neighbors tendency to destroy the shrine behind their house, Ogadi had left Nwata to guard the shrine. Or that was the excuse she gave to the little demon whenever she wanted to leave the house because whenever she went out with him, he tended to ask a lot of questions and answering his questions made her look like she was constantly talking to herself since demons were only visible to the Gate Keepers.

Nwata took his job seriously and refused to depart from his watch post.

Ogadi reached into the fridge and brought out a chilled bottle of Fanta.

She opened it and sipped its contents, exclaiming with delight as its orange flavor made contact with her taste buds.

“Is Daddy around?” Nwata asked in a jovial tone.

Ogadi almost spit out the drink in her mouth. She forced herself to swallow.

“He's not your daddy. How many times do I have to say this?” She asked angrily.

“I'm sorry, Mummy.” Nwata said sadly.

Ogadi rushed to reassure it, “It's okay. Why don't you take a break from your duty post?”

Nwata refused, “I must protect our shrine at all costs.”

Ogadi shrugged and left the kitchen, hoping Phillip had found something useful.

She walked back into the sitting room and was about to ask Phillip what he'd found out when she looked at him and became tongue-tied.

Phillip was reading something on his phone with a frown of concentration on his face. And he was putting on spectacles. They were tortoise-shell ones which amplified his beauty. She'd never been into bespectacled men particularly but Phillip was on another level. The spectacles lent him a scholarly air and Ogadi considered brilliance a sexy quality.

Right there and then she admitted to herself what she'd been denying since she came in contact with Phillip—she was attracted to him.

But which woman in her right senses wouldn't be, the man was simply divine. Not that she was going to do anything about it, Ogadi warned herself. She had a very important mission and could do without the distraction that came with attraction. Also, a hot man like Phillip probably had a girlfriend or two, she told herself before she dismissed the idea. Phillip didn't look like a player. But he could be, a voice within her asserted.

Ogadi realized she knew next to nothing about Phillip. She only knew his full name.

He chose that moment to look up from his phone and caught Ogadi staring at him.

“What?” Phillip asked.

“Nothing...uh, I just didn't know you wore glasses.” Ogadi lied, sipping her drink.

“Well, I do although I don't make use of them all the time.” Phillip shrugged.

“Prescription?” Ogadi asked as she sat down in a sofa opposite him.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“Long-sighted or short-sighted?”

“Short-sighted. My left eye only. My right eye is good.” Phillip informed.

“Wow! That happens? Shouldn't you be putting on a monocle?” Ogadi asked.

“Totally but those things are obsolete not to mention that they do lend the wearer a malevolent look.” Phillip said.

“Yeah, that would scare off all those girls.” Ogadi muttered under her breath.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.” Ogadi replied.

“Okay. Now that we've got that out of the way, I want to ask for the real reason you were staring at me.” Phillip said, smiling.

Ogadi groaned inwardly. The man was too astute for his own good.

“Don't you have an amulet to find?” She asked evasively.

“These things take time. I'm running a search.” Phillip replied, “I'm hungry. Could you feed me?”

Ogadi nodded. She was supposed to have offered him something to eat as soon as he arrived but she'd forgotten. It was his fault, she told herself, he was always doing something to distract her.

“Why don't I order us some food?” She asked opening a food delivery app on her phone. She wasn't really into cooking. That was her grandmother's forte.

“Whatever it is you're having.” Phillip replied absently, staring at his phone.

Ogadi shrugged and ordered fried rice and beef for the both of them.

When she was done, she left the sitting room. Being in the same room with Phillip and not looking at him was very tasking. She'd rather not make a fool of herself.

It wasn't as if Ogadi didn't know how to handle attraction. In fact, she'd almost been in relationships with two men but it seemed like the relationship business was not for her.

Both men had dumped her when she revealed she was an Igbo traditional worshipper.

The first one had told her there was no way darkness (her), and light (him) could ever be together.

The other one had been afraid she'd poison him or cast a spell on him if he broke her heart as he saw traditional worshippers do on television.

After the two unsuccessful tries at finding love, Ogadi had given up. Now she felt like giving love another try, with Phillip.

“Way to jump the gun, Ogadi. He may not even be interested in you.” She admonished herself.

A little voice within her told her he liked her. She'd seen the way he looked at her whenever he thought she wasn't looking.

“Which could mean nothing.” She said aloud.

She shook her head and snapped out of those thoughts. She didn't want to be the girl who wasted her whole day pining for a man.

“I'm just going to bury this attraction.” She vowed.

There was a knock on the door and Ogadi rushed to open it. It was a delivery man holding the food she ordered. She took the package from him with a smile and thanked him.

Carrying the package in, she dropped it on the center table and opened it. She brought out the plastic plates and handed one to Phillip who thanked her and opened it.

Ogadi saw him cross himself and mutter a prayer and she asked, “Are you a Christian?”

“Of course,” he replied, “Roman Catholic.”

His response confirmed her fears. Christian men never dated traditional worshippers like her.

She masked her disappointment by asking him, “Which of your parents isn't African?”

“From my surname you'd know it's my mother.” Phillip replied as he dug into his food.

Ogadi followed his lead and began to eat her plate of rice too.

“How did your parents meet? Where were you born?” Ogadi asked.

Phillip cocked an eyebrow and removed his glasses, “Is this a date?”

“What? No!” Ogadi replied indignantly, “Why would you think that?”

“There's food and you're asking me questions about myself. That's standard date procedure.” Phillip chuckled.

“No.” Ogadi said firmly, “We aren't on a date. You know what, forget I asked those questions.”

Ogadi was bent over her plate so she didn't see the smile of satisfaction that appeared on Phillip's face.

* * *

Dike Aru petted Ugo Dike and the big bird crooned.

“Yes, yes. You've been a good bird. It wasn't your fault. How did you like earth?” Dike Aru asked in a soothing voice.

The bird warbled loudly.

“I see you like it very much. Don't worry, when the time is right, we'll return there and you'll fly in the blue skies.” Dike Aru promised.

The bird squawked once and fell silent.

Dike Aru's gaze left Ugo Dike and panned in on the demon prostrating in front of him. His gaze hardened.

“As for you!” He thundered, “What happened up there?”

“My lord,” the demon answered reverently, “Ekere fought me while they escaped.”

“You let them get away?!”

The demon gulped at the anger present in his voice, “I tried my best.”

“Where is Ekere?” Dike Aru asked in a deceptively calm voice.

“Ekere escaped.” The demon said in a small voice.

Dike Aru's angry roar scared Ugo Dike and caused it to fly away.

Dike Aru didn't even notice. He raised his palm and a red-hot beam of energy streamed from it. The beam hit the demon and her body began to turn red.

“My lord! I'm sorry!” The demon cried right before she shattered into a million pieces.

Dike Aru had destroyed her life force.

“Sorry for yourself!” Dike Aru said. Good riddance, he thought. He was better off without incompetent soldiers.

He began to think about the problems at hand. First, Ekere had spoken with those humans. He was sure Ekere had told them how to counter the sacrifice and trap him in the underworld. Second, Ekere was still roaming the earth. Dike Aru knew his offspring would be a thorn in his side.

He growled as he thought about how long he'd waited for an opportunity to return to earth. There was no way he'd let his own head servant and two measly humans stand in his way.

The humans had to die and Ekere had to be brought back to the underworld so he could give the traitor the punishment he deserved.